being sued

[daddyrat]

I had carpet put in my house. when the salesman came to pick up check he told me the owner wanted cash and I needed to write the check to him in his name so he could cash it and pay the owner in cash so, I did. he did not pay the owner . so the owner wants to sue me. I called the salesman up and he told me he did not pay the owner because the owner stopped payment on his check and the installers check. salesman and installer quit working for the company. the salesman sent me copies of the checks where the owner stopped payment on there checks. I talked to the owner and she told me she had not been pay and if I did not pay she was go to sue me. I received lawsuit papers. I can not get the salesman to call me back or answer his phone. can you please tell what I can do in this case. THANKS FOR YOUR HELP

 

[mightymoose]

Shame on you! You should not have done that. I guess we all learn the hard way sometimes

If my thinking is correct, the business owner can sue you for non-payment and you can sue the salesman. However- depending on the salesperson/business man relationship, the businessman might be able to sue the salesman directly and leave you out of it.

You might also want to contact the police and see if the will take a fraud case or theft by false pretenses... but they may not and just tell you it is a civil problem since you did write the guy the check in his name. Worth checking in to though. If the police will pick it up and investigate then the salesman might feel compelled to quickly pay up and settle things.

The salesman likely had you pay him because he already knew his other check was stopped... so you might be able to work the fraud/theft angle.

If I were you, and if it was financially feasible, I would pay the owner the amount due and sue the business owner to put an end to that debate. I would contact the police and work the fraud angle to get them involved for criminal charges, and I would file suit against him at the same time for civil damages. He will likely pay up right away if the police contact him. Even if they tell you it is a civil issue and direct you to the court, you might be able to convince them to just make contact with the guy and see if it produces results.